India's ties with China healthy, says Tharoor

India has a 'fundamentally healthy' relationship with China that goes beyond the boundary issue, Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor stated on Tuesday.

"The relationship should not be seen only in the context of the problems, it should also be seen in the context of the opportunity," he said when asked about the India-China border talks last week.

Tharoor said, "We are very pleased to say that, by and large, even the fact of the border talks is confirmation that the relationship remains fundamentally healthy."

The special representatives of India and China, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo, held the 13th round of talks on the vexed boundary issue in New Delhi on August 7.

Noting that China had recently become India's single largest trade partner, the minister said looking at the export and import sector without the IT services, China has overtaken the United States.

Tharoor said there was an increase in the number of tourists coming from China to India. "A large number of tourist visas are issued to Chinese to come to India. They may be discovering India as an important tourist destination," he said.